Notre Dame of Gaza: Mosques and Churches are Also Burning

As the 300-foot spire of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris tragically came tumbling down on live television, my thoughts
ventured to Nuseirat Refugee Camp, my childhood home in the Gaza Strip.

Then, also on television, I watched as a small bulldozer hopelessly clawed through the rubble of my neighborhood mosque. I grew up around that mosque. I spent many hours there with my grandfather, Mohammed, a refugee from historic
Palestine. Before grandpa became a refugee, he was a young Imam in a small mosque in his long-destroyed village of Beit
Daras.

Mohammed and many in his generation took solace in erecting their own mosque in the refugee camp as soon as they arrived
to the Gaza Strip in late 1948. The new mosque was first made of hardened mud, but was eventually remade with bricks,
and later concrete. He spent much of his time there, and when he died, his old, frail body was taken to the same mosque
for a final prayer, before being buried in the adjacent Martyrs Graveyard. When I was still a child, he used to hold my
hand as we walked together to the mosque during prayer times. When he aged, and could barely walk, I, in turn, held his
hand.

But Al-Masjid al-Kabir - the Great Mosque, later renamed Al-Qassam Mosque - was completely pulverized by Israeli
missiles during the summer war on Gaza, starting July 8, 2014.

Hundreds of Palestinian houses of worship were targeted by the Israeli military in previous wars, most notably in 2008-9
and 2012. But the 2014 war was the most brutal and most destructive yet. Thousands were killed and more injured. Nothing was immune to Israeli bombs. According to
Palestine Liberation Organization records, 63 mosques were completely destroyed and 150 damaged in that war alone, oftentimes with people seeking shelter inside. In the case of my mosque, two bodies were recovered after a long, agonizing search. They had no chance of being
rescued. If they survived the deadly explosives, they were crushed by the massive slabs of concrete.

In truth, concrete, cements, bricks and physical structures don't carry much meaning on their own. We give them meaning.
Our collective experiences, our pains, joys, hopes and faith make a house of worship what it is.

Many generations of French Catholics have assigned the Notre Dame Cathedral with its layered meanings and symbolism
since the 12th century.

While the fire consumed the oak roof and much of the structure, French citizens and many around the world watched in
awe. It is as if the memories, prayers and hopes of a nation that is rooted in time were suddenly revealed, rising, all
at once, with the pillars of smoke and fire.

But the very media that covered the news of the Notre Dame fire seemed oblivious to the obliteration of everything we
hold sacred in Palestine as, day after day, Israeli war machinery continues to blow up, bulldoze and desecrate.

It is as if our religions are not worthy of respect, despite the fact that Christianity was born in Palestine. It was
there that Jesus roamed the hills and valleys of our historic homeland teaching people about peace, love and justice.
Palestine is also central to Islam. Haram al-Sharif, where al-Aqsa Mosque and The Dome of the Rock are kept, is the
third holiest site for Muslims everywhere. Yet Christian and Muslim holy sites are besieged, often raided and shut down per military diktats. Moreover, the Israeli army-protected messianic Jewish extremists want to demolish Al-Aqsa and the Israeli government has been digging underneath its foundation for many years.

Although none of this is done in secret; international outrage remains muted. In fact, many find Israel's actions
justified. Some have bought into the ridiculous explanation offered by the Israeli military that bombing mosques is a
necessary security measure. Others are motivated by dark religious prophecies of their own.

Palestine, though, is only a microcosm of the whole region. Many of us are familiar with the horrific destruction
carried out by fringe militant groups against world cultural heritage in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Most memorable
among these are the destruction of Palmyra in Syria, Buddhas of Bamyan in Afghanistan and the Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul.

Nothing however can possibly be compared to what the invading US army has done to Iraq. Not only did the invaders
desecrate a sovereign country and brutalize her people, they also devastated her culture that goes back to the start of human civilization. Just the immediate aftermath of the invasion alone resulted in the
looting of over 15,000 Iraqi antiquities, including the Lady of Warka, also known as the Mona Lisa of Mesopotamia, a
Sumerian artifact whose history goes back to 3100 BC.

I had the privilege of seeing many of these artifacts in a visit to the Iraq Museum only a few years before it was
looted by US soldiers. At the time, Iraqi curators had all precious pieces hidden in a fortified basement in
anticipation of a US bombing campaign. But nothing could prepare the museum for the savagery unleashed by the ground
invasion. Since then, Iraqi culture has largely been reduced to items on the black market of the very western invaders
that have torn that country apart. The valiant work of Iraqi cultural warriors and their colleagues around the world has
managed to restore some of that stolen dignity, but it will take many years for the cradle of human civilization to
redeem its vanquished honor.

Every mosque, every church, every graveyard, every piece of art and every artifact is significant because it is laden
with meaning, the meaning bestowed on them by those who have built or sought in them an escape, a moment of solace,
hope, faith and peace.

On August 2, 2014 the Israeli army bombed the historic Al-Omari Mosque in northern Gaza. The ancient mosque dates back to the 7th century and has since served as a symbol of resilience and
faith for the people of Gaza.

As Notre Dame burned, I thought of Al-Omari too. While the fire at the French cathedral was likely accidental, destroyed
Palestinian houses of worship were intentionally targeted. The Israeli culprits are yet to be held accountable.

I also thought of my grandfather, Mohammed, the kindly Imam with the handsome, small white beard. His mosque served as
his only escape from a difficult existence, an exile that only ended with his own death.

– Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and editor of Palestine Chronicle. His last book is ‘The Last Earth: A
Palestinian Story’ (Pluto Press, London). Baroud has a Ph.D. in Palestine Studies from the University of Exeter and was
a Non-Resident Scholar at Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies, University of California Santa Barbara.
His website is www.ramzybaroud.net.

ends

Next in Comment

Metiria Turei (here with James Shaw) was the co-leader of the Green party until
2017, but resigned within weeks of her welfare reform speech in which she shared
her personal experience with New Zealand’s welfare system. Scowlie/flickr , CC ...

I t isn’t necessary to like Julian Assange to think that his extradition to the
US (on the charge of aiding and abetting Chelsea Manning) would be a major injustice.
And lest that be construed as a claim that the right to justice of his Swedish accusers ...

The death march of local journalism looks set to continue in 2019… and you best
believe it is a very real problem for our democracy. Diverse and robust local media
coverage is highly important to a democratic society, yet the corporate media sector ...

Julian Assange continues to ripple and roam as a cipher through the political and
media scape of the world. Detained in Belmarsh maximum security prison, the sort
of stately abode only reserved for the most dangerous of criminals, many with indeterminate ...

“Your honour, I represent the United States government”. The Westminster Magistrates
Court had been left with little doubt by the opening words of the legal team marshalled
against the face of WikiLeaks. Julian Assange was being targeted by the imperium ...

The man seemed like a bearded emissary, a holy figure nabbed in his sleep. He looked
similarly pale as to how he did in 2013, but he cut a more shocking figure. Most
prisoners would have had room to move in a compound. The Ecuadorean embassy in London ...

Political asylum is an accepted if often ignored right. It is also at the mercy of
those interests that grant it. Ecuador’s repeated insistence on conditioning Julian
Assange’s stay in its London abode is tantamount to corroding the idea of asylum ...

“I will not comply with this, or any other grand jury.” So explained Chelsea
Manning in justifying her refusal to answer questions and comply with a grand jury
subpoena compelling her to testify on her knowledge of WikiLeaks. “Imprisoning ...

Julian Assange sits in a jail cell today after being betrayed by the Ecuadorian government
and his home country of Australia. A British judge named Michael Snow has found the
WikiLeaks founder guilty of violating bail conditions, inserting himself into the ...

Governments’ (monstrous and criminal) behavior should not be secret. People should
know what their government is doing, and what a powerful foreign government is doing
to their own countries. The actual results of the work of WikiLeaks have been hugely ...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Julian P. Assange, 47, the founder of WikiLeaks, was arrested
today in the United Kingdom pursuant to the U.S./UK Extradition Treaty, in connection
with a federal charge of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion for agreeing to ...

New York, April 11, 2019--The Committee to Protect Journalists today said it was
deeply concerned by the U.S. prosecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Authorities
in the United Kingdom arrested Assange this morning at the Ecuadoran Embassy as part ...

Julian Assange’s mother reported yesterday that the WikiLeaks founder has not been
permitted any visitors during his detention in Belmarsh Prison, including from doctors
and his lawyers. Doctors who visited Assange in the Ecuadorian Embassy have attested ...